title: Should men with asymptomatic non-specific urethritis be identified and treated?
abstract: There is currently a debate as to whether microscopy is necessary in asymptomatic men presenting for a sexual health screen. Arguments favouring microscopy include finding chlamydia in a significant proportion of sexual partners of men with non-specific urethritis (NSU) in studies that included symptomatic men. We aimed to investigate the proportion of partners of men with asymptomatic NSU who were diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection. A retrospective case-note review was carried out for all men diagnosed with asymptomatic pathogen-negative NSU, and their traced sexual contacts, during a nine-month period. As a result of contact-tracing, we identified 42 partners who attended the clinic. Only one partner (2.4%) tested positive for chlamydia. A further two partners were diagnosed with a viral sexually transmitted infection (STI). The low level of chlamydia and other STIs in partners of asymptomatic men with pathogen-negative NSU does not support the routine use of microscopy to identify these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of GU Medicine, Royal South Hants Hospital, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK. adblume@yahoo.com
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blume
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Main
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Foley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016358:Contact Tracing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D054526:Men's Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012747:Sexual Partners; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014526:Urethritis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D002575:Uterine Cervicitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D055815:Young Adult